Dell didn’t take his eyes from the kitten. “I know, you’ve had a majorly sucky day. Come tell me all your troubles.”
“Does that actually ever work for you?” Jade asked.
“Shh, you,” he said, and keeping his movements light and easy, he reached beneath the chair. “Come on, beautiful.”
“Mew,” said the kitten.
“Mew,” said Peanut.
“It’s all going to be okay,” Dell assured the cat. “No one’s going to hurt you.”
When the kitten just stared at him, Dell slowly slid his hand beneath her belly, which was nearly concave. Her ribs were so prominent he could have counted them, which pissed him off, but though she growled and let out one last protesting “mew,” she let him pull her from beneath the chair without slicing him raw with her claws. “Good girl,” he murmured, holding her against his chest and scratching her beneath the chin.
She watched him very carefully, but it was as if she knew that he knew. Hell, maybe abandoned souls recognized abandoned souls, he wasn’t sure, but she slowly relaxed until finally, unable to resist the gentle scratching, she even closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest.
“Yeah, there you go,” he said quietly. “Lifting his head, he flashed a grin at Jade. “If only your species were as easy.”
“We both know that for you they are.” She shook her head. “And that should be illegal.”
“What?” he asked innocently. “Sweet-talking a p-”
“If you say pussy,” she warned. “I’ll make sure that tomorrow you’ll be up to your eyeballs in vaccines and wellpuppy checkups from sunup until sundown.”
“I like puppies.”
“Scratch the puppies. Did I say puppies? I meant analgland expressing. I’ll find every large animal in Sunshine who needs it done and book them, just for you.”
Dell laughed. She did that a lot, his stalwart, snarky, razor-tongued receptionist. Made him laugh.
As well as threaten him.
He was used to it. Hell, he even liked it, which made him all kinds of sick, he knew. Maybe it was the fact that she ran the front desk of his vet clinic in those runway clothes, never so much as blinking when she got covered in dog and kitten hair. Or worse.
Maybe it was her ability to handle his patients and their owners with equal aplomb or that she never took any of his shit. Or that she had a way of uncomplicating his life for him-a miracle considering that she’d come here with virtually no references whatsoever. Dell still no had no idea what had possessed him to hire her, but he had, putting her into a position that had supposedly been only temporary while he looked for someone more qualified.
And yet he’d never looked for anyone else.
It had been eighteen months, but that ship had sailed. She was going back to her old life, whatever that was-she’d been frustratingly stingy with details-and leaving them.
Him.
He had no idea what he’d do without her sitting at the helm of his world, running it with cool, distant efficiency. Not to mention, she was a nice view. She kept her silky strawberry blond hair perfectly twisted on top of her head, except for the few errant strands that had slipped out and were brushing across her shoulders. Her eyes were green, shot through with streaks of amber, and saw everything. She had a mouth, too. Smart, cynical, and made for a man’s fantasy.
And since he should absolutely not be going down that road, thinking about that mouth with the vanilla gloss that he always wanted to lick off, he shook his head to clear it. He usually had more sense, but there was something about Jade and her whole don’t-touch attitude that made him want to rise to the challenge.
And he meant rise.
Her fingers were clicking on her keyboard, her screen revealing her beloved spreadsheet program, which he knew held her notes on anything and everything from which patient he was going to see tomorrow to what color her fingernails would be next.
His favorite was the bright fuck-me red.
“Adam’s checked in from Boise,” she said, referring to his brother. “His class went late, he’s staying over.” She stood. She was average height and average build, but there was nothing else average about her.
Ever.
She coaxed Peanut onto her arm, easily transferring the parrot from the printer to the bird’s night cage.
“Night-night?” Peanut asked her.
“Yes, Peanut go night-night,” Jade said with a sweetness that Dell never got directed at him. He watched her blow a kiss to the bird, receiving one in return, along with a soft mimicking “mew,” and with a low laugh, Jade covered the cage with a blanket.
Her black trousers had pleats, Dell noted, and were snug on the best ass he’d ever seen. All business in front, party in the back…
That eye-straining sweater that matched her eyes and name seemed to shimmer beneath the overhead lights. He’d once asked about her name and she’d told him it was for her grandmother, who’d ruled her family with the strength and elegance of the jade gemstone.
Clearly she took the name seriously. Dell had the feeling that when it came to the family she didn’t often talk about, she took everything seriously.
She wore tiny sparkling earrings up one earlobe, matching the myriad bracelets on her wrist, and heels that he wasn’t sure how she managed to balance on, though he enjoyed listening to them click, click, click across his floors all day. His patients enjoyed it, too, especially their owners. The male owners. How many times had he seen a guy come through here and attempt to pick her up? Exactly the same number of times he’d seen Jade politely and firmly shut them down.
There was a little part of him that enjoyed that very much. Okay, a big part, but he’d never made a move on her. Like the government, he preferred to keep his state and church separated; never the two shall meet. Not that that stopped him from wondering what secrets his sexy receptionist had that kept her celibate.
Or hell, maybe she merely left Sunshine and whooped it up on the weekends somewhere else, out of the limelight of their small Idaho ranching town.
She was moving around the room, shutting down for the night. Belle Haven was a full-service clinic. Behind this main building was also a large barn housing their horses and additional equipment, both his own and his brother’s. Adam was a local trainer, breeder and search-and-rescue specialist.
Their reception area was large and airy, with wideplanked wood floors lined with comfortable benches for waiting. At one end was a long counter-Jade’s-and behind it was the hub of the entire place.
Jade’s jurisdiction.
She ran this front room like a drill sergeant, and half the time Dell wanted to put his hands around her neck and squeeze.
The other half of the time he wanted to put his hands on her for something else entirely. Since he was fond of living, he kept both these urges to himself.
“What are we going to do with the poor thing?” Jade asked. “Take her home? Oh, wait. You never take any of your women home.”
This was true. He didn’t bring women home.
He went to their place. He gave the kitten a cursory look over. Other than being far too skinny, she seemed healthy enough. “She’ll need to be spayed and vaccinated.”
“Want me to call Lilah for tonight?” Jade asked.
Lilah ran the kennel next to Belle Haven, and she was also the Humane Society as well as one of Dell’s closest friends. Lilah would take the kitten and keep her until she could be placed in a good home. “That’d be best,” he said. “Because I have a-”
“Date,” she said, swiveling her chair to give him her back. “Shock.” She went back to closing up.
Everything had its place with her. Files were always meticulously filed; the copier, fax, and computer were carefully covered to protect from dust. Pencils, pens, and assorted other equipment placed into their spots in drawers. Dell never got tired of watching her, and never failed to smile when the last thing she did was consult her various to-do spreadsheets to make sure everything had been done, even though she knew damn well it had been.